Last week Sergeant Osika, along with Deputies Alshaman…

Last week Sergeant Osika, along with Deputies Alshaman, Aldoori, Boyko, Colucy, Connolly, and Divovic attended Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training held at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica.

Law Enforcement from across the area came together to complete the 5 day course.

CIT is a specialized police curriculum that aims to reduce the risk of serious injury or death during an emergency interaction between persons with mental illness and police officers. It also serves to help keep individuals with mental illness out of jail and in treatment, where they can get back on the road to recovery from their illness. CIT programs further help to reduce arrests while simultaneously increasing the likelihood that individuals will receive appropriate follow-up mental health services from local providers.

During the course of instruction, officers were given instruction in several areas including but not limited to:

• Proper communication strategies for dealing with individuals suffering from mental illness

• Indicators of emotional distress

• Substance abuse and co-occurring disorders

• Mental illness & Recovery

• Psychotic Disorders

• Trauma & PTSD

• Developmental Disabilities

• Autism Awareness

• Dementia

• Scenario based training modules

• Local mental health community resources

The Oneida County Department of Mental Health provided lunch for the training each day.